


Pumpkin Goop and Seed Wars

by ComposerEgg



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Fluff, M/M, TWEWYTOBER 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 13:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12321765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComposerEgg/pseuds/ComposerEgg
Summary: “Why, exactly, are we carving pumpkins again?” Neku asks, staring at his big, bright orange pumpkin.“Because it’s fun, you’ve never done it before, and you’ve also never had pumpkin seeds. So, I need to teach you the art of pumpkin carving.” Josh grins across the table at him.





	Pumpkin Goop and Seed Wars

“Why, exactly, are we carving pumpkins again?” Neku asks, staring at his big, bright orange pumpkin.

“Because it’s fun, you’ve never done it before, and you’ve also never had pumpkin seeds. So, I need to teach you the art of pumpkin carving.” Josh grins across the table at him.

They’ve covered the table in Josh’s apartment (the penthouse of Pork City, because he’s never _not_ extravagant), with a ton of newspaper, and Josh had plopped down two fat, plump pumpkins, declaring that they were going to carve them. Two big metal bowls were in the middle, ready for seeds and gunk.

“Where are we going to put them? You don’t have a porch.” Neku takes the Sharpie Josh hands him. He’d read up on pumpkin carving a bit, because he’d seen pictures of some cool carvings, but he’d never done it.

“We can put them on the roof. Now, figure out what you’re gonna carve. I’ve got an idea myself, and I’m going to freehand this. Done it enough to know how,” Josh says, taking a knife to the top of the pumpkin and carving out a circle. Neku follows suit, not quite knowing what he’s doing, and soon enough they’ve both got a hole carved and top removed.

Josh has no qualms about sticking his hands in the pumpkin and peeling out all the strings and innards he can at once, stripping the seeds into one bowl before depositing the gunk in the other. Neku, on the other hand, frowns and dives in cautiously. It’s gross, and sticky, and wet. It’s all slimy, and he tosses his handful into the discard bowl as fast as he can, much to Josh’s annoyance.

“There’s tons of seeds on that! How _wasteful_ ,” he teases.

In retaliation, Neku lobs his next gob at Josh’s face. “You can do it for me.”

Josh stops it in midair, before it hits his face and gets everywhere. “ _Rude_ ,” he says. There’s a pause, dead silence, before they both burst out laughing.

“I can’t believe you just threw this at me!” Josh says, waving his hand to separate the seeds away.

“You had it comin’! Besides, nothing actually _hit_ you, so it doesn’t matter.”

“It’s the thought that counts, dear,” Josh says, taking a breath to calm down. “Your intentions were loud and clear, and _very_ slimy.”

“Well, if you’re going to get your magic out, can’t you just _magic_ the goop away?” Neku asks, sticking his hand back in and making a face at the texture as he removes more strands. He does apply pressure as he squeezes and slides his hands down the stringy goop to remove the seeds and place them in the right bowl, this time.

“You’re no fun, Magic takes the spirit out of it, the festivity!” Josh dives in again, grabbing big handfuls, getting as many seeds as he can out.

“It could _also_ take this gross, sticky, slimy, gunk out of these things and let us get to the carving part sooner.”

Joshua sighs, and snaps his fingers, cleaning off their hands and emptying the pumpkins. “There, better?”

“Much. I’m going to repeatedly stab this pumpkin now,” Neku says, reaching for a knife that jumps away. Josh tosses another Sharpie at his face.

“Doodle your image first. Carving lines you’ve drawn is easier than mending a mistake.” Josh takes his knife to the skin of the pumpkin, ignoring his own advice. “I’ve done this before, so I know how to freehand, but you haven’t.”

Neku pouts, but grabs the marker and starts to draw. He’d thought about what to make, and eventually decided on a cat. He starts with the curled tail, raised in the air, and continues down to the body, no need to draw feet as it sits, facing forward. He curves it upward, an oval for the head, and two pointy ears.

Carving the cat is fun. It’s methodical work, going over the lines, plunging the knife in and out, quick deliberate strokes. It’s thicker than expected, tougher to cut through than the Noise he’s fought. Josh comes around to help him, showing him how to do it by sections, plopping the freed pieces out and onto the newspapered table.

Moments like these are few and far between for them. It’s a hint into Joshua’s past for him, even though Josh’s carving is the skull symbol from the Player Pin. Joshua’s laughter echoes around them, and it’s not a graceful laugh, it’s full of air and the need to breathe, but it makes Neku smile.

He adds _carved pumpkins as a kid_ to his mental list of _Things I Know About Josh_. Another bullet point has _really loves seasoned pumpkin seeds_. These clues help him understand Joshua, still an enigma, shrouded in secrecy even as he proclaims to be an open book.

By nightfall, there are two pumpkins glowing on top of Pork City, and Neku is pelting seeds at Joshua, watching as he fails to catch most of them in his mouth. Apple cider residue lingers in his mouth, and pumpkin spice is all he can smell, but his hands are goop-free, and Joshua is taking his turn to toss seeds at him.

A kid’s Halloween movie plays in the background, the light from the TV illuminating them both, but they’ve stopped paying attention to indulge in these seed wars.

It tastes like home.

**Author's Note:**

> This is pure fluff and a bit of thoughting brought to you by Neku. Day 2 of twewytober
> 
> So I'm a few days behind on twewytober, due to writing for the bang (that fic is going to go through some heavy editing before it ends up on here, but you can check it out at the [twewy bang tumblr!](http://subasekabang.tumblr.com/))
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at [composeregg](http://composeregg.tumblr.com) or [indecisiveauthor](http://indecisiveauthor.tumblr.com/), feel free to hit me up there!
> 
> If you liked this fic, please drop a comment below! It would absolutely make my day! Anything is welcome, from kind words to incoherent screams to concrit!
> 
> EDIT: [I have a twewy discord now! It's here!](https://discord.gg/pEADe9J)


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